30-31 May 2017
It followed a Justice Ministry
Bahraini Court Dissolves
Main Secular Opposition
Group
A Bahraini court on
Wednesday ordered the
dissolution of the main
secular Waad opposition
group and the seizure of
its assets, Waad said on its
Twitter account.
The ruling is part of a
wider crackdown by the
Western-allied government
that has included
outlawing opposition
groups, imprisoning and
trying prominent rights
campaigners and revoking
the citizenship of a religious
leader.
Bahrain Heading for
Total Suppression with
Ban on Secular Group
Bahrain is heading for total
suppression, human rights
groups have said, after
the reported banning of a
secular opposition group on
Wednesday for supporting
terrorism.
A Bahraini court ordered the
dissolution of the National
Democratic Action Society
opposition group, known as
Waad. The Arabic-language
al-Wasat newspaper said
that the high administrative
court decided to dissolve
Waad and confiscate its
assets for the benefit of the
state treasury.
petition filed in March
accusing the National
Democratic Action Society,
known as Waad, of serious
violations targeting the
principle of respecting the
rule of law, supporting
terrorism and sanctioning
violence.
The Arabic-language al-
Wasat daily newspaper said
that the high administrative
court decided to dissolve
the National Democratic
Action Society (Waad),
confiscate its assets for
the benefit of the state
treasury.
read more
The ruling comes following
a petition filed in March
by Bahrains justice
ministry accusing Waad of
supporting terrorism.
Human rights groups called
the ruling, which is subject
to appeal, a de facto ban
on all opposition.
Shutting down the last
opposition party is a
declaration of a de facto
ban on all opposition,
said Sayed Alwadaei, the
director of advocacy for the
Bahrain Institute for Rights
and Democracy.
The government of Bahrain
is acting with the aim of
totally silencing all peaceful
voices, leaving open the
alternative of underground
opposition and violence
read more
of the National Democratic
Bahrain Court Dissolves
Secular Opposition
Group
A Bahraini court dissolved
a secular opposition party
on Wednesday, a judicial
official said, as authorities
in the Gulf state kept up a
crackdown on dissent.
The decision by the
administrative court, just
months after the main
party representing the
kingdoms Shiite majority
was also banned, was swiftly
condemned by human
rights groups.
The justice ministry had
requested the dissolution
Trial of Leading Bahraini
Activist Postponed
A Bahraini court again
denied bail to a leading
Bahraini human rights
activist on Tuesday and
delayed his trial on charges
of spreading false news, a
pro-opposition rights group
reported.
The Bahrain Institute for
Rights and Democracy
said Nabeel Rajabs trial
was postponed to June 12,
extending his period of pre-
trial detention - much of
which was spent in solitary
confinement - to roughly a
year.
Authorities at Bahrains
information affairs office
Action Society (Waad) in
March.
It accused the party of
serious violations of the
principle of respect for the
rule of law, support of
terrorism and promotion
of political change by force.
Bahrain has been rocked
by unrest since 2011, when
its Sunni minority rulers
crushed Shiite-led protests
demanding a constitutional
monarchy and an elected
prime minister.
Last week, police shot dead
five demonstrators in the
home village of the spiritual
leader of the kingdoms
Shiite majority.
read more
could not immediately be
reached for comment on
the case.
Rajab, a leading figure in
a 2011 pro-democracy
uprising, was arrested last
June after tweets from his
account suggested that
security forces had tortured
detainees in a Bahraini
prison and on a military
campaign in Yemen.
He faces two other sets of
charges related to an op-ed
he published in the New
York Times last year and
tweets from his account that
were critical of the Saudi-
led Gulf Arab intervention
in Yemen.
read more